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I Ran Two Google Ads Experiments. Here’s What Actually Happened.

I want to preface this by saying: I didn’t go into this expecting to print money.

The thinking was simpler than that. More visitors means more chances someone buys something. Organic growth is slow, my following across platforms is still small, and I wanted to see what paid traffic actually felt like.

So I just did it.

Experiment One: Performance Max (March 3–9)

My first Google Ad ever.

I wrote the copy. Added images. Set it up, pressed go, and watched it run.

Performance Max, 7 days:

For a first attempt, that CTR felt encouraging. 6% is not nothing — it meant the creative was at least doing something right, or at least the targeting wasn’t completely off.

But I was also watching YouTube at this point, trying to understand what I’d actually built. And it turned out I’d chosen the campaign type that gives you the least control. Performance Max distributes across Google’s entire network — Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps — and you largely trust the algorithm to figure it out.

For someone who wanted to understand what was working and why, that wasn’t ideal.

Experiment Two: Search Campaign (March 12–April 27)

After watching enough to have a different opinion, I switched to a Search campaign. More intent-driven. People searching for something specific, you show up with a relevant ad. Makes more sense for a product like Jetdomains.

Search Campaign, ~6 weeks:

The CTR drop makes sense — Search is more competitive and more specific than Performance Max’s broad spread. But the reach was significantly wider, and the intent was better.

Zero conversions, though.

What I Actually Took From This

I could frame this as a failure. R618.69 and nothing to show for it in the revenue column.

But that’s not quite how I experienced it.

Firstly — 27,000 people saw Jetdomains. That’s exposure I hadn’t bought before. For a brand that’s still very young, there’s something about that number that feels like it mattered, even if it didn’t convert immediately.

Secondly — the zero conversions forced me to look at the landing page differently.

When you’re doing organic outreach, there’s a conversation. You can answer questions, address hesitation, add context. A paid ad sends someone cold to a page, and that page has to do all of that work on its own. Mine wasn’t doing it.

The messaging wasn’t sharp enough. The page wasn’t built for someone arriving with no prior context. I knew this somewhere in the back of my mind before, but the ads made me confront it directly.

That shift in perspective — thinking about the landing page as the salesperson, not just the product showcase — was probably the most valuable thing that came out of the whole experiment.

Where Things Stand

Google has paused my ability to run ads until some verification goes through. So the experiments are on hold for now.

But when it opens back up, I’ll go back with a better landing page and clearer messaging. And I’ll know a bit more about what I’m doing.

That’s the thing about experiments — even the ones that don’t result in anything teach you something.

Jetdomains is live at jetdomains.co.za — domain registration and hosting for South African businesses and founders.